Cardboard boxes are a convenient form of packaging. Because of this, such boxes abound in a myriad of different shapes, sizes and configurations. However, their manufacture and assembly is accompanied by certain problems. For example, a particular business may have need of different sizes of boxes, and it may have to provide these in various quantities. One could, of course, simply purchase the assembled boxes from a suitable source. However, each assembled box occupies a volume. This volume, multiplied by the number of assembled boxes that must be stored, may require a substantial space.
Another solution would be to simply purchase quantities of pre-formed planar box blanks that could be selectively assembled as needed. While these blanks would occupy less volume than the assembled three-dimensional boxes, the business would still have to inventory an adequate number of blanks of the desired sizes. The attendant problems are immediately foreseeable; the desired box may not be in inventory when needed, or it may be damaged, or it may be difficult to find, and so on.
Because of these problems, it would be desirable for some businesses to have the in-house capability of creating various sizes and configurations of creased and scored box blanks from rectangular sheets of cardboard. Thus, only rectangular sheets of cardboard need by inventoried. These can be cut to size, and slotted and creased to form appropriately-sized and properly-configured box blanks, as needed. These blanks can then be folded and glued, taped or stapled to form three-dimensional boxes when required. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,369.
However, the present state of the art does not appear to provide a method for forming such blanks in a complete and final form. First, blanks formed according to the aforesaid '369 patent have two superfluous flaps which must be manually removed at a later stage. This results in additional cost and delay before the box can be assembled. In addition, the manual removal of these flaps may detract from the appearance of the blank. Therefore, it would be desirable to create high quality blanks that are ready to be formed into three-dimensional boxes without further cost or delay.
Second, the present state of the art requires that the rectangular sheets of material used to form the box blanks be cut, in a separate stage, to the proper dimensions for the desired shape. This also results in additional cost and delay. Therefore, it would be desirable to form complete box blanks from sheets that are physically larger than the minimum dimensions needed to form the desired shape. It would also be desirable to be able to form numerous box blanks from one long sheet or roll of material.
The present invention would allow businesses to be able to form complete blanks in a more cost-effective and less labor-intensive manner.